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State and Facebook file lawsuits against alleged ‘clickjackers’

If you use Facebook, you may have “liked” an Internet scheme without being aware of it – and unknowingly helped spread the scam to your Facebook friends.

Today, Washington State Attorney General Rob McKenna and Facebook announced the latest step in an ongoing fight against spammers and scammers: lawsuits against the co-owners of Adscend Media, LLC, an ad network that is alleged to develop and encourage others to spread spam through misleading and deceptive tactics, including “clickjacking.”

“We don’t ‘like’ schemes that illegally trick Facebook users into giving up personal information or paying for unwanted subscription services through spam,” McKenna said in a statement.

Here’s how clickjacker scams work:

Scammers design Facebook pages to look like they’ll offer visitors an opportunity to view salacious or provocative content. They condition viewing this content on completing a series of steps that are designed to lure Facebook users into eventually visiting websites that often deceive them into surrendering their personal information or signing up for expensive mobile subscription services.

First, Facebook users are encouraged to click the “Like” button on the scammers’ Facebook pages, which then alerts their friends to the existence of the page. Then they’re told that they can’t access the content unless they complete an online survey or advertising offer.

In one example noted in the state’s lawsuit, the scammers overlay the Facebook “Like” button with a link that promises to reveal the results of: “This man took a picture of his face every day for eight years!”

The promised content often doesn’t exist, and the tricked user is then directed through a series of prompts taking them off of Facebook and through a host of unrelated advertising and subscription service offers, where the scammers receive money for each misdirected user.

In some cases, Facebook users don’t need to click the “Like” button to spread the spam on their Facebook pages. In clickjacking, a hidden code in enticing-looking links activates Facebook’s “like” function and puts it on the users’ friends’ news feeds.

“The natural reaction is to wonder why anyone would click on these links,” said Assistant Attorney General Paula Selis, who heads the office’s Consumer Protection High-Tech Unit. “But, unfortunately they do, and at one point Adscend spam lined the defendants’ pockets with up to $1.2 million a month.”

The state’s lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Seattle against Delaware-based Adscend and co-owners Jeremy Bash and Fehzan Ali. It alleges violations of state consumer protection and commercial electronic communications and messaging laws.

Facebook’s lawsuit against Adscend and its owners was filed in federal court in the Northern District of California.

Note: This is a seattlepi.com reader blog. It is not written or edited by the P-I. The authors are solely responsible for content. E-mail us at newmedia@seattlepi.com if you consider a post inappropriate.